Have you ever noticed how the strawberries you pick yourself on a warm May afternoon taste much better than the huge red berries you buy at the grocery store? Everyone who has grown their own tomatoes, lettuce, or apples knows how much better homegrown food can taste. You still need to be selective about what seeds you buy because some varieties of carrots and squash taste better than others, and some prove more resistant to disease. Putting in a...
What do you consider when choosing plants for your home and yard? We all have a checklist of criteria in the back of our minds. Our criteria are very personal to our own needs and situation. You may not purchase and plant as many plants as I do each year, but I’m sure that you enjoy the choosing and the planting just as much. We gardeners have been encouraged to plant more native plants for quite a...
What Are Indigenous Trees? Indigenous trees are those native species that have grown in our area since before European colonization. They are uniquely suited to our climate. They support our indigenous wildlife and make our landscape unique. Trees produced from long generations of the same species, that have all grown in our immediate area, are considered indigenous. A tree ordered from a mail-order nursery, even of the same species, was likely grown from seed, or a cutting, indigenous to...
When do you harvest watermelon? There are several factors that indicate ripeness First, the underside ground spot turns from whitish to creamy yellow. Next look at the tendrils closest to the melon, they should be brown and shriveled. The rind loses its gloss and appears dull. And last but not least, when thumped the melon produces a dull thud, rather than a ringing sound. Not just water and sugar Watermelon has many health benefits. One is that it is loaded...
A Tour of KelRae Farm, by Michele Garrard, Master Gardener, Class of 2022 Boots on the Ground Tour – As part of their training, the James City County Williamsburg Master Gardeners (JCCWMG) recently received a “boots on the ground” tour of KelRae Farm, located in Toano, VA. Leading the tour was the farm’s owner-operator, Michelle Gulden. Michelle together with her husband Randy, took over the farm in 2001 from Randy’s great uncle, Henry M. “Buck” Hazelwood, and they...
A Special Needs Gardening Program! A collaboration between our Master Gardeners and Arc, the Arc of Abilities Day Support Program is for adults with special needs. The program teaches participants how to grow and use flowers, vegetables, and herbs that they cultivate in four large, raised beds year-round in the Williamsburg Botanical Garden’s Therapeutic Garden, and on rainy days in the Park’s Visitor’s Center. In a partnership that has lasted for more than five years, Master Gardeners meet with Arc...
The Historic Triangle Learning Garden is one of many projects led by members of the James City County/Williamsburg Master Gardeners. It is located right behind the CDR building and next door to Waller Mill Elementary School, at 312 Waller Mill Road. Originally known as “Incredible Edibles,” the project changed its name to the Historic Triangle Learning Garden in 2021 to reflect a broader range of interests, including growing flowers, supporting pollinators, and practicing other aspects of organic gardening, in...
A family of rabbits gathers each evening at dusk to nibble their way through the clover and creeping Charlie that populate our front ‘lawn.’ They prefer to nibble plants that we don’t cultivate and won’t miss. A motley mix of volunteer species, interspersed with a few grasses, grow in the open space between the patio and hedge. While we call it a ‘bee lawn,’ others might say our lawn is infested with weeds. What is a Weed? Any plant growing...
Picnics with citronella candles, lemon scented furniture polish and sweet tea with lemons all recall happy childhood memories. Fragrance has a profound ability to create or shift a mood, to trigger memories and create new ones. Just as cinnamon evokes the holidays; crisp, cool lemon is a summertime fragrance. Most lemon scented plants thrive in warm climates. Lemon trees, Citrus limon, are hardy only to Zone 8. Originally native to Asia, they spread throughout the ancient world wherever the...
A friend was excited to buy milkweed plants at a WBG plant sale several years ago. They aren’t easy to find commercially, and few people raise them from seed. When I saw her again a few weeks later, I inquired about how her plants were doing. “Oh, I must have done something wrong. They’re not looking so good. Most of the leaves have disappeared,” she replied. I quickly reassured her that it was unlikely she had done...